September 19, (THEWILL) –Â Chelsea cruised past London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at the Tottenham Stadium to move joint top alongside Liverpool on the league table.
Both teams paid tribute to the late Jimmy Greaves before the game, after news of the death of the legendary England and Spurs striker broke on Sunday.
The game began with the promise of a goal-fest in memory of the prolific goal-scorer as Chelsea and Spurs made bright,attacking starts. The hosts had the early upper hand with the way they penned the Blues back with a high press from their front three of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dele Alli.
In a first half of missed chances, the best opportunity of note came just past the half hour for the hosts. Son’s heavy touch allowed Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who started in place of the injured Edouard Mendy, to smother the ball at his feet before he could pull the trigger.
After a deadlocked first period, Chelsea came out with a renewed approach, heralded by the introduction of N’Golo Kante. The visitors broke the deadlock four minutes after the restart through their veteran centre-back Thiago Silva, who thumped home a header from a Marco Alonso corner. It was doubled soon after when Kante’s 25-yard strike deflected in.
In a twist, the much-anticipated shoot-out pitting Kane against Romelu Lukaku failed to materialise as neither striker was able to get on the scoresheet.
The home side offered little to suggest they could launch a realistic recovery. In fact, there was enough time, in the final moments of injury time, for another defender, Toni Rudiger, to seal a sixth successive away win in London derbies for the Blues, a club record.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
